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Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category

Review: James Connolly – Working Class Hero.

Posted in Dublin History, Reviews on September 18, 2010| 6 Comments »

On the fifth of June 1919, a concert was due to take place at the Mansion House to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of James Connolly. It had been organised by his comrades in the labour movement, including members of his beloved Irish Citizen Army. Under the Defence Of the Realm Act (DORA) the concert was deemed illegal days in advance, and as one would expect things turned ugly. A small crowd arrived on the night, and while the crowd were being moved in the direction of Grafton Street by the Dublin Metropolitan Police, the Irish Times of the following day noted that “Without a seconds warning, three or four young men faced the police with revolvers in their hands”. Shots were fired, officers injured, and the concert was held at the Trades Hall on Capel Street that night.

How fitting this documentary should first air in the Mansion House then.

Firstly, one must state before beginning any review of this documentary that the fingerprints of Liberty Hall today are clear to be seen on this work. It is introduced to the audience gathered in the Mansion House by not alone Jack O’ Connor of Siptu, but also Liz McManus of the Labour Party. She features in the documentary, as do her party colleagues Dick Spring and Eamon Gilmore. The Labour Party are the only party from the left in Ireland to feature with the exception of a brief appearance from Eugene McCartan of the Communist Party of Ireland, and as the documentary comes to an end to the sound of Paul Cleary of The Blades singing about the fighting spirit of the capital, it is an image of contemporary Liberty Hall which appears on-screen.

With a title like ‘James Connolly-Working Class Hero’, this work was always going to be one of admiration, with many of its contributors from left-wing traditions. Still, it is an important work, and one which almost lives up to my (rather high) expectations. It attempts to not only explore James Connolly, the giant we know from history, but also another James Connolly. The Connolly raised in what became ‘Little Ireland’, a slum of Edinburgh. The Connolly who first visits Ireland not as a socialist revolutionary, but a member of the British Army. The Connolly who noted that his life was forever darkened by the loss of his eldest daughter to an untimely death.

It is a testament to those behind this documentary that they succeeded in attracting such a diverse group of individuals to the project. Colm Meaney in particular deserves great praise for his readings of the work and letters of Connolly. Meaney delivers the correspondences and writings in an almost perfect Edinburgh accent, and captures perfectly the passion in the written words of Connolly.

Connolly himself remarked in 1907 that “Until the movement is marked by the joyous, defiant, singing of revolutionary songs, it lacks one of the distinctive marks of a popular revolutionary movement; it is a dogma of a few, and not the faith of the multitude”.

It is fitting, as Connolly wrote many poems and songs in his time of course, that music and poetry should feature so centrally in this documentary. Christy Moore delivers the first musical performance of the documentary, singing ‘Connolly Was There’, a number he learned from Dominic Behan. Andy Irvine delivers a rendition of ‘James Connolly’, that excellent song by Patrick Galvin that asks “Who will carry high the burning flag?” Jimmy Kelly, Adrian Dunbar and Paul Cleary also lend their voices to proceedings, occasionally with the assitance of a a number of excellent musicians.

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A Random Drop Inn: Mulligan’s of Stoneybatter.

Posted in Pubs, Reviews, Social History, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on August 19, 2010| 5 Comments »

Not the best of evenings to go for a pint to be honest, with the future of the team I’m about to go shout for hanging severely in the balance. But still, pre- match pints are part of the ritual of going to games, and where better for five supporters to mourn and lament about Bohemian FC than in the heartland of Stoneybatter, half way between the clubs birthplace in the Phoenix Park and its current residence in Phibsboro.

Mulligan's of Stoneybatter, from The Tale of Ale Blog.

Mulligan’s of Stoneybatter is certainly not to be confused with Mulligan’s of Poolbeg Street fame.  Whereas the latter has been discussed about in length around these parts, having one of the best pints in Dublin, you can’t get a pint of Guinness in the former. A pub in Dublin without Guinness? Yes, even though this place is a stone’s throw away from the Guinness brewery, it’s a “brewery pub” in the line of the Porterhouse. And yet what did I stump up for? A pint of… Becks.  All the fancy lagers and stout on show and I went for the drink only there to service the plebians…

Apparently one time the haunt of those who couldn’t get served anywhere else in the locality, the proprietors did well to clean the place up and present drinkers with a nicely laid out bar area, stretching way back with nooks and crannies in which a solitary drinker can hide. The bar staff, well presented in pinstripe aprons and with a colossal knowledge of the wares they ply from behind a bar that harks back to the establishments past as a green grocers store. While the pint of Becks was, admittedly great (icy cold, with a head that kept to the bottom of the glass- something you don’t get much in Dublin pubs…) there was not much the staff could tell me about it. But when one of our Bohs comrades bought a fancy bottle of 7% stout, served to him in what looked like a trifle dish, the barman was able to tell him what temperature it should be stored at and what angle it should be poured at… Mad stuff.

And with that, we were off to witness arguably the worst Bohs game I’ve been to in my time. A 2-0 loss to a Galway Utd. reduced to nine men. I wish I could say the couple of beers stifled the blow, but, as nice as they were, they didn’t!

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A day at the Dublin Horse Show.

Posted in Events, Reviews, Social History, tagged , , , on August 6, 2010| 2 Comments »

Bright sunshine and serene sky had encouraged the ladies to don the lightest and most attractive frocks. As a leading social event, the day was attended by every favourable circumstance, and was in every way a success.

So noted The Irish Times of August 24, 1911. The “splendid gathering” that is the Dublin Horse Show has remained a staple of Dublin life, though the Royal Irish Lancers and the sort are long gone from the scene. Yesterday, I made my first visit to the show, and what I found was an event even larger than I had expected.

I must say, I never fully understood the social significance of the Horse Show before visiting it myself. My mother, a child of Ballyfermot, recalls attending the Horse Show as a child with her father. Yesterday, it was clear the event draws people from all across the capital and beyond. The crowd is probably best described as international in composition, and pub rumours of waiting lists for hotels in the area suggest the Horse Show is safe for the forseeable future. With over 300 stalls, several packed bars and dozens of catering vans and even restaurants on site, the amount of employment generated by the show is staggering itself. The show runs smoothly, but only as a result of the hard work of countless staff.

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Pub Crawl, June 2010 (Pubs 48- 53)

Posted in Pub Crawls, Reviews, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 25, 2010| 2 Comments »

At a random guess, we’ve covered approximately seventy pubs in Dublin at this stage and we’ve only just scratched the surface. But nonetheless, there is still fight left in us and we’ll struggle on through Pub Crawls and Random Drop-Inns until we can say finally, when anyone asks “Have you been in such-and- such” that yes, we’ve been there because, well, we’ve been everywhere.

So, with our mission in mind, on the last weekend in June and we hit the streets again. The five regulars met up at Molly Malone, but this pub crawl we had a special guest; we were joined by a good comrade World by Storm from Cedar Lounge Revolution. I was on hand to lead the way, and started by covering old ground. Our first spot was one we had crossed on our travels before, but we didn’t stop for a pint last time, such was the “welcome” we got. I’m glad I decided to give the place a second chance, as we were delighted with the welcome and the pint we got this time around. We were, of course, in McDaids of Harry Street. And while the sun shone down on us on this pub crawl, it was back to Guinness for all of us.

McDaids, by Carly Whelan, from Flickr.

A different day, a different barman and a totally different attitude. Whereas last visit, we were made feel so uncomfortable we left without ordering the pints, this time we were more than happy to stick around, the telly was off, there were plenty of stools for us to plonk ourselves down on, and the Guinness seemed to be the regulars choice. All six of us were happy with the fare, and took to nattering away amongst ourselves, inevitably about archaic Irish politics. McDaids was one of the pubs to take part in the Arthurs Day celebrations last year so I chanced my arm and asked the barman if they had any of the “250” beermats lying around. Smart enough, he asked if I was collecting them to flog them on E-bay, obviously I’m not the first person to have asked; but kindly enough, he disappeared down to the basement and brought back up a stack. Nice one. A pub with great history this, one of those pubs to be mentioned in the same breath as Davy Byrnes, O’ Donoghues and the Baggot Inn, a favoured spot of Behan, O’Brien et al. The pint, at €4.65 was not overly extortionate considering we were just off Grafton Street. Definitely glad we gave this place a second chance, we were sorely tempted to stay for a few but we had four more pubs to go through, and plenty of topics of conversation to cover before the end of the night.

The Hairy Lemon, by the fantastic Infomatique, from Flickr.

So onwards and upwards to our next spot, The Hairy Lemon on Stephen Street. I’ve only ever been here once before, and that was to avail of their well reknowned lunches. But the fare was different today, as was the crowd as six fine pints of Guinness were put up in front of us in a pub free of the shirts and ties that were here last time I was.

Named after a notorious and nefarious 1950’s Dublin dog-catcher, the bar is a throw back to old Dublin. It was used as a location in arguably the best film to come out of this city, and one that depicts it best, Roddy Doyles “The Commitments.” And it hasn’t changed a bit since then; not that you’d want it to either. We stationed ourselves at a big kitchen table down the back of the pub in an area I didn’t notice on my last visit. This place was, in a former life, The Pymalion, a pub with a deep history of its own, being home to the punk and metal scene in 1980’s Dublin. We drank at our leisure, and again, the intricacies of political splits and the history of the Irish music scene were covered and recovered by all, with World by Storm chipping in as if he were a pub crawl regular; his insights and knowlege were very welcome! It was hard not to get comfortable here, and I had to remind our comrades that while the pints (Unfortunately steep at €4.80) were tasty, we had further to venture. Tip of the day for this place; all continental beers are €4… Deal.

Hogans, by 1541, from Flickr.

Futher, but thankfully not too far. Bypassing a couple of places in the vicinity, we headed to our next watering hole, Hogans on South Great Georges Street. An odd place this, it tries to strike the balance between old and new school Dublin, like crossing Brendan Behan with Ross O’Carroll Kelly and they do it quite well actually. Walking in the front door (which is actually around the corner on Fade Street, not far from the recently sad-to-be-missed Road Records) you’re met immediately by a long bar, a mere ten foot away from you. You could be forgiven for thinking that thats all there is, until you walk around the corner and find a duplicate of the bar backing onto it, and another huge area behind, with plenty of seating.

We took our place under a Queens Park Rangers calender, definitely out of place but amusing all the same. This place gets mental on Friday and Saturday nights, when the trendy types roll out and it tends to be wall to wall jammers- but Sunday afternoon pints work here too. The pint was well received, at €4.45 it was well presented and for taste was definitely around the 4/5 mark. It’s very rare you’ll get the 5/5 mark (from me anyways.) While I liked this place, we didn’t stay long, gathering ourselves together and heading Northside, for what is only the second time on the pubcrawls if I remember correctly. Shocking stuff really! But, not too far northside- the next port of call was Jack Nealons pub on Capel Street.

Jack Nealons, by Lilyandthejoh, from Flickr.

I love a pub with an open fire, and although there wasn’t one blazing on that Sunday, I made a mental note to drop back in when the harsh winter kicks in and a pint beckons. After a bit of confusion with us looking like we trying to gatecrash a private party upstairs, we eventually got a perch around a high table by the window, under a telly showing sheep dog trials, bizarre enough but enchanting all the same. Cue everyone looking up at me (the only culchie in the place) “how the f*ck does the dog know what way to go?!” With plenty of hyas and whistles. Mad stuff. The pub itself was established in 1905, and caters for a range of clientele- For while the last time I was here, it was a Friday evening and the place was packed with office workers from the area indulging in the bars impressive cocktail menu, Sunday seemed to be a regulars only affair.

We were joined here by veteran pub crawl part timers DMcHugh and ANagle, and the pints were really starting to flow now. Pints of the night here for me, and as such we ended up staying for more than intended. At €4.20, they were a steal. The place really had a nice feel to it as the evening outside started to dim and time had come for us to depart again and head for our last stop, The Bachelor Inn on Bachelors walk.

The Bachelor Inn, by ClarkeC_99_88, from Flickr.

The Bachelor Inn is what you would call an institution in itself. There are some pubs in the city centre, like Neds on Townsend Street, or Molloys on Talbot Street that seem like they’ve been there for ever. The Bachelor Inn joins those; certainly a regulars bar, but not one ready to turn away eight pint hungry bloggers. The barstaff in the place are top notch- it was getting on by the time we got there, a bit like ourselves to be honest. There was no such thing as just the one or two in here, there were several return trips to the bar. And the best thing about the place? Hitting the magical hour where if drinkers aren’t out of the pubs, they turn into pumpkins, or get their names taken by over- zealous Gardai, the barman made his way up to the back of the pub to ask if we would care to indulge in another beverage. What a man. Of course, the answer was a resounding yes from all concerned. I’d be lying if I said I remember how the night went after that, but before I got to the stage where my memory went out the window, I made up my mind that I liked the Bachelor Inn very much. Deceptively large, it stretches way back towards the Bachelors Lotts behind it. A nice, clean and well run pub too, with plenty of seating up the back. There was a nice buzz about the place too, with plenty of buzz and laughter which, for a fairly tight regulars bar, didn’t quieten down when us shower entered! €4.40 a pint and no complaints, they do a regulars card, for… regulars, and possession of one of these grants you the honour of getting pints for a bargain €4. One to remember!

Right. So five more pubs down, and many more to go. A big shout out to World by Storm, and as ever, our other regulars DFlood, Hammy, ANagle and DMcHugh. We’ll be back soon, and if I remember correctly, pints are on Sam. Nice one.

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The Plough and the Stars- The Abbey Theatre

Posted in Dublin History, Reviews, tagged , , , , on July 22, 2010| 4 Comments »

“It appears certain that Nationalism has gained a great deal and lost a little by its union with Labour in the Insurrection of Easter Week, and that Labour has lost much and achieved something by its avowal of the National aspirations of the Irish Nation”

-Sean O’ Casey.

Joe Hanley as Fluther Good, in rehearsal for The Plough and the Stars.

There is no night quite as exciting to see a play as on its first night before the general public. Lines have been practiced, outfits adjusted, props moved slightly this way or that way, feedback taken on board. The stage is set by now, and nothing is as telling as the reaction of a sold-out house to a performance.

Based on the reaction tonight, The Plough and the Stars should enjoy a fine run now it is back home where it belongs.

Undoubtedly one of the most controversial plays to emerge from The Abbey, it is no doubt the one that first comes to mind for many when discussing the iconic Theatre. The riots that emerged during its 1926 run at The Abbey are well documented. These disturbances were, among other things, reactions to the sight of a prostitute on stage, the appearance of the Irish flag in a public house and the use of the words of P.H Pearse. For some, the play was seen as dismissive of the ideals of the men of 1916, and the leading Irish progressive figure Hanna Sheehy Skeffington was among those who disrupted the first performance of the play. A great irony was the fact O’ Casey had previously wrote so highly of her husband Francis, the pacifist who was murdered in very suspicious circumstances during the Rising.

In Sheehy-Skeffington, and not in Connolly, fell the first martyr to Irish Socialism, for he linked Ireland not only with the little nations struggling for self-expression, but with the world’s Humanity struggling for a higher life.

When The Abbey later refused The Silver Tassie, in 1927, O’ Casey left it behind him. The Abbey has never been able to leave O’ Casey behind it however, and The Plough and the Stars has returned to its stage on numerous occasions. This latest performance, directed by Wayne Jordan, is one I’ve been eagerly awaiting for months.

The characters in the play are not easy to carry. I have seen this play performed in the past in a way that did not quite do justice to the weight of characters like The Covey and Fluther. They’re supposed to be passionate, and nothing if not loud. Joe Hanley could not have got Fluther better, and over a ‘post-play pint’ I heard this view shared by many. Fluther is a loveable character despite all his faults, and produces many wonderful lines in the work. Best to hear them read right. His physical manner on stage also matches the character, and he completely makes the character his own, whether pacing a room or returning from an ‘Easter week shopping raid’.

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A line out the door that isn’t at the dole office.

Posted in Miscellaneous, Reviews, tagged , , , , on June 15, 2010| 2 Comments »

Shakes on Dame Street

You’ll be waiting, but it’s worth it.

The Dime Bar milkshake, what an idea. Straight from the heavens, from the A4 sketch-pad of God himself surely. Delicious and (probably not at all) nutritious, and a steal at €2.99. I’ve bought dodgy pints on Dame Street for more than that in the past, and this is a steal.

At first, I was quite dismissive of the idea of a ‘milkshake bar’ opening up in the centre of town, a novelty at best I thought. It was only when passing early on Monday (1pm is ‘early’ to me) that I ventured in for a look.

Ahead of me, a business man in a suit, or eh…a slick dressing mod. Behind me, an old lady and her Marks and Spencers bags. Behind her, a couple of kids spending a summer roaming around town I imagine. A varied bunch. The staff? As sweet as the milkshakes, and not daunted at all by the workload lining up before them.

Your man in front goes for the Oreo, I go for the Dime Bar, and the lady behind me opts for the Galaxy. A posh one obviously. To kill the time, I grab a leaflet.

After Eight
Aero Mint
Buourbon Biscuit
Jammie Dodger
Skittles (I’m as confused as you)
Jelly Tots
Weetabix

These are just the ones that caught my eye. I won’t be trying the Weetabix offer, granted- but Skittles or Starbursts? Tempting.

At €2.99 for a regular shake, or €3.50 for a large offering, it’s not breaking the bank. There’s a student discount too, which is always nice. The option of Soya milk and ice-cream is there for those of you who are into that lark.

The place is open until 11pm some nights according to their Facebook, meaning you’ve no excuse. I expect to be put on a drip soon.

Shakes Milkshake Bar is open now.

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Pub Crawl, May 2010 (Pubs 41- 47)

Posted in Events, Pub Crawls, Reviews, Social History, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 9, 2010| 7 Comments »

I reckon I should open this piece with a bit of an apology.

Up until this point, whether on pub crawls or Random Drop Inns,  we’ve stuck with pints of plain. We have, article by article, gone some way towards drinking a pint of it in every pub in the city. But we just could not touch a drop of the stuff the day of the crawl, which turned out to be the hottest day of the year in Dublin City Centre; what else could make that day any better only an ice cold pint of cider and a nice perch outside.

This turned out to be the deciding factor in us hitting eight rather than the regular five pubs- not that any of us minded of course, it turned out to be a great day, with a couple of minor irks rather than anything majorly wrong with any of the places we visited. It does leave us with the problem though; How can you judge how good or bad a pint of cider is? Is it cold? Check. Wet? Check. Taste like apples? Check. Every pint is a winner.

The Bull and Castle. By Nathan A, from Flickr

So… Waiting for an exam-laden DFallon to turn up at Christchurch, we ventured into The Bull & Castle on Lord Edward Street. I’ve often passed this place by in favour of its lesser frequented neighbour, The Lord Edward as I’d assumed this Gastro-Pub effort would scorn on people like ourselves looking only for a cold drink and solace from the sun. Thankfully not as the barman dispensed with ciders and beers without a qualm. I’ll be honest and say I was a bit dazzled at first- the pub is quite dark inside, and with a cloudless sky outside, it made it difficult to work out what was what behind the bar. They have a wide range of beers, only to be matched by the Porterhouse I reckon, but none of us was brave enough to venture a try. Nice pub inside, a bit of an olde-worldy feel to it. Very clean also, a must obviously with the place doing a fine trade in grub. But the best thing about the place was the bench outside. I’ve remarked a couple of times this week, and I don’t think I’m off the mark. Dublin in the sun has to be one of the best places on the planet. So perched on a bench, not far away from where the vikings made their mark on this city, with a pint of (relatively expensive at €4.80) cider in hand and the world passing by, I’d have happily stayed there for the evening.

The Legal Eagle. By Infomatique, from Flickr.

But with the arrival of DFallon, we reluctantly gave up our spot and headed across the Liffey to The Legal Eagle, on Chancery Place. Now this pub was a pleasure for a reason- Half Price Sundays! From when doors open at 12:30 on Sunday morning to when they close at an unusual 10pm, everything in the pub sells at half price. This meant an unbeatable €2.20 for a pint, and should we have wanted it, a carvery dinner for €5.50. DFallon tried the Guinness here and said it wasn’t to be faulted but would be following suit in joining us on beer or cider at the next stop such was the heat. The bar was busy enough, I reckon the cheap booze the draw for many. For while it was a nice place, it didn’t set the heart racing and you couldn’t imagine getting comfortable on the hard benches and seats, provided for a quick turnover of diners rather than a slow swell of drinkers- problematic of a lot of pubs selling lunches.

O'Sheas Merchant. By Gianluca 61, from Flickr.

So with that, we upped and out the door, we had miles to go before we slept tonight. Back across the Liffey and into O’Sheas Merchant, on Lower Bridge Street. Cracking pub this. DFallon had been here on a session before, said the doors were closed pretty early and getting out them was prohibited unless you sang a song. Now thats the kind of place I like. It’s a bit of a schizophrenic pub, falling somewhere in between an “old man” spot and a tourist joint. Pint bottles here rather than pints, and a reeling out of the “and its still a pint” line. Images of one of dFallons heroes, Seamus Ennis, adorned the wall, and a member of an Garda Siochana propped up the bar. Off duty of course. A nice pub indeed, one to think about if we’re down this neck of the woods again. We didn’t stick around long here, for while it was nice, the formica tables and blaring telly with the Simpsons on didn’t exactly add to the charisma of the place. Maybe they turn the telly off for the sing- song at seven o’clock or something…

Pifko, from their official site.

So with a few nudges and giggles we made our way to the next spot, Pifko on Ushers’ Quay. This is an odd one. We’ve never been in a pub in Dublin where we were the only Irish people in the place but this was the case with PiFko. Primarily a Czech bar, the place was full of Slovakians watching the Ice Hockey World Cup. We weren’t mad on their “all tables must be reserved” rule; even though there were a number of empty tables, we were forced to stand under the telly. I actually liked the place apart from that, it was a bit of a laugh cheering when Slovakia scored, the whole place went mad. Nice cold pints of Paulaner, cheap at €4. Lovely. Funny looks from everyone else in the pub when we started singing Olé Olé Olé, not so. Was mad to try out the “Beaked Pork Lion” on the menu though. Being made stand while tables sat empty did nothing to entice us to stay so we made our way up to The Liberties and into a pub I’ve passed a million times, The Clock, Thomas Street.

The Clock. By dmckenna, from Flickr.

Not imposing looking from the outside, the place is pretty huge when you walk in, nicely decorated and well laid out. The punters were glued to the box, with “Reeling in the Years” on. As we reached the bar, Packie Bonners save against Romania in Italia 90 (Brilliantly portrayed in this clip from the Van) was on. myself and DFallon were only too delighted, I’ll never get sick of seeing it; The nerves, the save, and those stupid jumps he does afterwards. Pity about his Fianna Fáil connections, he used to be a hero to me! Anyways, we headed out the back to the most unusual smoking area I’ve ever been in. Well it wasn’t the smoking area itself, rather than what inhabited the smoking area- a huge cage containing around fifty twittering and cheeping birds of all shapes and sizes- canaries, budgies, cockateels, even a guinea fowl legging it around in the bottom. Mad stuff. Nice boozer, €4.60 a pint, not to be faulted.

1850's (?) Thomas Street. From Archiseek.

Nows around where it starts to get hazy. Lucky we didn’t have far to go,  only to Bakers of Thomas Street, just across the road. The three pubs we hit around the Liberties all came across as being very much locals spots. It doesn’t help that when we come to these places, more often than not, its only for one or two pints and because of that, its hard to get a proper feel, and a proper welcome from the locals. I liked this place, though Britains Got Talent made it feel less authentic than it might. Again, €4.60 a pint (cold, wet- check) what more could you ask for. A nice pub inside, with low seating, and aging memorabilia adorning the walls. Whilst most of it had seen better times, it kept us interested and deep in discussion.  Onwards drunken soldiers.

Tom Kennedys. Again from the excellent Archiseek.

Tom Kennedys of Thomas Street, right across the road from the Thomas House. What can you say about this place only it was truly terrifying. The walk to the jacks was a scary one, not because the punters were in any way threatening but because Sunday night in Kennedys is Karaoke night. And the MC took a liking to one of our crew, and kept demanding that she come up and sing! Not tonight mate… Again, a locals joint in every sense of the word, the woman behind the bar had the pints on before the locals got to the bar, that sort of place.  The place you might get looks of beleagured astonishment for sitting in “Shielas seat.” Lucky enough, we were well mannered, drank our fill and headed off. I think the pints were €4.50 here, I really need to write them down as I’m doing them. This was JFloods pubcrawl though, so I wasn’t expecting to be doing the write up!

My home away from home... Brogans Bar. By Ester Moliné, from Flickr.

The night could have ended here, but no- We had one more stop to make; Brogans on Dame Street. I really don’t want to write too much about this place because for personal reasons, its my favourite pub in Dublin. Its as close to a local as I’ll get, and is oft frequented by a large crew of my mates. Theres no particular reason its my favourite pub in Dublin, apart from some stories I could tell that you wouldn’t believe. One of the only pubs I can walk into on my own, sit at the bar on my own, order a pint and not feel like a loner/ escaped mental patient/ alcoholic/ all three combined on my own. It really is a scrap between here and Mulligans for the best pint in Dublin, and when I’m drinking it, the Guinness rings in at €4.30. I can’t describe it, just go for a drink here on a sunny afternoon and you’ll see its allure. I’ll stop now!

Right. The hardest write up I’ve ever done, what with a million things coming up between the event itself and me getting a chance to write it up. But it was a great day, amongst the best of the pub crawls we’ve done. Major kudos goes to JFlood for the choices, and to Hammy and Bookie for coming along. Next pints are on me, Sunday fortnight. Give us a shout!

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Gig Review: Ted Leo And The Pharmacists (Whelans, May 8th)

Posted in Events, Reviews, tagged , , , on May 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Ted Leo, minus the Pharmacists.

 
Ted Leo And The Pharmacists- The Mighty Sparrow

Early, always better to be early.

I’ve never really liked Whelans as a pub. It’s about as well lit as the Arigna Mines (Ever step out on the streets after being in there during the day?), a pretty pricey pub at the best of times, and the music at night never does it for me. It’s good music, but it never moves out of that The Smiths/The Cure/Joy Division safe territory, and feels a bit like the haunt of the older siblings of the Doyles crowd. Maybe it’s just that the stretch Whelans is located on is home to so many good pubs too. It’s a great spot for live music and performances (I saw Andy Irvine here not too long back, and have seen a number of comedy gigs here too), but not a quiet pint.

Whelans, from spaciousplanet.com

So, being early for Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, we pop over to Anseo, a great spot. I really like Anseo, and as we walk in we notice the pub is in silence and I comment that it’s unusual to hear it as such. Then, all is cured. The cause of the silence? He was turning the record. I love that little vinyl booth right beside the bar, and the music is at the perfect noise level to allow for conversation. Pretty chilled out music, mainly instrumental tracks and even some jazz to pass the time. Myself and Gar, the only other Ted Leo fan I could think of in the phonebook at first, are pretty damn excited.

Like myself, Gar has a love for that record, Living With The Living. Inside out and backwards, it’s a damn good record. Ted Leo an co. are on tour to promote the bands latest effort, The Brutalist Bricks. I commented recently to a friend that I found Ted Leo and his band near impossible to categorise (the way us music nerds do), and then I spotted Threadless describe it all somewhere along the way as containing “A dash of Elvis Costello’s vocal prowess, a heaping spoonful of The Clash’s politically-fueled punk, and a pint or two of The Pogues traditional bittersweet love poetry” That’ll do nicely.

I’m a firm believer in going along to see opening acts however. Some of my favourite bands today (Au Revoir Simone for example) first came to my attention when opening for others. So, we pop into Whelans to see Windings.

A very good opening band for Ted Leo, I noticed on their webpage they list Dinosaur Jr, Pavement and Wilco among influences. In my own opinion you could chuck the Pixies in there too, and have an idea what to expect. Both myself and Gar were very impressed by their set, in particular the single Brain Fluid which remained in my head long after their set and that of Leo and co. Another fine example of why you should go along for the opening band, always. I’d actually go see Windings again, on the back of that live performance. They sell tapes too. Actual tapes. Remember them?

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists take to the stage with force, and no indication of the lack of sleep Leo later tells the crowd of. A couple (literally) of hours sleep between Plymouth and Dublin, the band are apparently wrecked. They don’t look or sound it. Opening with The Mighty Sparrow off the latest LP,The Brutalist Bricks, the set includes a number of new tracks, with my personal favourite Bottled In Cork appearing towards the end.

It’s a well balanced set however, with the majority of tracks coming from earlier and acclaimed efforts. Me and Mia, Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?, Where Was My Brain? and others get an airing. Early on in the gig Ted solves an arguable divide between stage and floor by insisting  the audience  move in, that big space won’t eat you up. From there, things take off. The crowd is a curious mix, reflecting the diversity of the appeal of the band.

The moment of the gig was undoubtedly a solo performance of Fisherman’s Blues from Ted Leo, with every WOAH-HOO-HOOOO! coming from the crowd.

After the gig we were lucky enough to get chatting briefly to Ted, often said to be one of the nicest blokes in the industry. I’d be well inclined to believe it, if he was half as tired as claimed, it didn’t show. I’ve great time for any band that donates time and energy to good causes, as The Pharmacists did with the Rapid Response E.P, a fundraiser for both Food Not Bombs and Democracy Now. While no doubt a ‘political band’, there is nothing preachy about Ted Leo or his band, at any stage, live or otherwise.

The influence of everyone from Gorilla Biscuits to The Specials shines through in the band and their music, and after a quality gig, nice chat and the purchasing of a football scarf (Note to bands: more bands should do football scarves, my Ted Leo scarf joins a Pogues one on the wall) we’re off home, and Ted Leo And The Pharmacists are off to Belfast.

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Off to Ringsend in the Sun…

Posted in Events, Football Articles, Miscellaneous, Reviews, Social History, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 18, 2010| 2 Comments »

Someone on The Bohs forum recently posted a link to a nostalgia packed Panini Italia ’90 sticker album that brought memories flooding back. Co-incidentally, last Saturday, I managed to get my hands on an absolutely meticulous Euro ’88 era Ireland jersey for the princely sum of €1.60. Searching on-line, I found the very same jersey retailing here at £140 of your finest British pounds. Will I be flogging my jersey on? Not a chance. Where, might you ask though, did I find such a bargain? Well, Shelbourne Dog track oddly enough…

I picked this up for a bargain €1.60!

On alternating Sundays, Shelbourne Park and Harolds Cross play host to carboot sales. I hadn’t been to a boot sale for years and forgot that the general idea was to get there as early as possible.  Both of these bootsales open their gates at 8.30 in the morning, but following a busy day/ night on Saturday and a late breakfast on Sunday, we made in there at half two and unforunately most of the stalls were gone home or off to the beach to sun themselves.  Details of when and where the bootsales take place can be found here.

Bootsales; And the characters that run them. from Flickr

I played witness to some great conversations here, a couple of grannies delving into a box of religious memorabilia and muttering to each other “Jaysis, look, theres a lovely St. Francis Scapular.” (A scapular is like a set of felt religious dog-tags.) and “Lovely, three mass cards for a fiver.” Oddly enough this stall was run by a couple of young lads, not what you’d be expecting.

Anyways, a great day under the shadow of the magnificent new Lansdowne Road Stadium (I absolutely refuse to call it the Aviva; anyone who does, deserves a clatter on the back of the head,) on the best day of the year so far, along with the Ireland jersey, I picked up a St. Pauli shirt and a Dubliners 7″ with “Surrounded  by Water” on one side and “Dublin in the Green” on the other side. With a bit of shamelessness on my part, and the stallholder asking for a fiver, I told him I’d give him two quid for it. And he accepted. Good buzz! I’ll be heading along to the Harolds Cross one next week, I’ll let ye know how I get on!

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Glasnevin Cemetery; Who isn’t buried there?

Posted in Dublin History, Miscellaneous, Reviews, Social History, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 7, 2010| 14 Comments »

Memorial to Irish Hunger Strikers

I’ve been up around Glasnevin before in a vain attempt to find Brendan Behan’s grave; I don’t know what possessed me, it was a beautiful day, I’d just finished reading The Hostage and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Of course, I failed in the attempt, but promised myself I’d come back some day and have another look. So, given the oppurtunity this weekend, the three CHTM heads, accompanied by LukeF (of LukeF Comics,) took a walk to Irelands largest necropolis where we hooked up with the official tour- led by Shane MacThomáis, son of  the great Dublin historian Eamonn MacThomáis, a man who I personally have a lot of time for, and I’m sure the other two lads here are the same. Some of his documentaries can be found here.

A modest grave for a big character; Jim Larkin

The cemetary is home to the graves of approximately 1.2 million people; A far cry from the nine acres it started out with in 1832,the area now stands at over 120 acres on one side of the road and a further 40 acres on the other, where the body of Luke Kelly now rests. It came into being initially due to reforms pushed through by Daniel O’Connell, whose tomb sits at the entrance to the cemetary. Prior to it’s existence, death was an expensive thing to endure, there being no Catholic burial grounds in Dublin and it costing a small fortune to bury a Catholic in a Protestant one. O’Connells tomb is of course marked by a 170ft tall round tower, which tends to stand out a wee bit! The tomb was the target of a loyalist bomb attack in the seventies, which shook the tomb itself, and blew up the stairs encircling the inside of the tower, closing it to the public. The Cemetary is surrounded on all sides by high stone walls, with towers on each corner. Not there to keep the dead in, they were built to keep grave robbers out. Grave robbing was a lucrative business in the 19th Century, corpses fetching £2, quite a sum in those days. Guards manned the towers from dusk to dawn, armed with muskets and pistols.

Plaque Commemorating the Cemetary Watchmen

JayCarax said it on the way up here and he was right: It isn’t a case of who is buried here, it’s easier to say who isn’t. For within a stones throw of the gate, you have Daniel O’Connell, as mentioned above, Eamonn DeValera, Michael Collins, Michael Malone, Maud Gonne, Jim Larkin, Roger Casement, Cathal Brugha, The O’Raghallaigh and Frank Ryan, amongst any number of important historical figures. The virtual map on the Glasnevin Trust site gives you a better of who is buried, and where, and is definitely worth having a look at.

One of the more interesting gravestones; The Indian Mutineers

Whilst amongst the masses of graves friends and comrades lay side by side, mortal enemies are often not within spitting distance of each other either. For while Big Jim Larkin turns to dust beneath the Glasnevin soil, likewise does William Martin Murphy whose palatial tomb is within sight of the modest grave Jim and his family are buried in. While Frank Ryan is buried within sight of the gate, Eoin O’Duffy is also. Glasnevin is, and has always been, a multi-denominational cemetary. Buried and cremated here are Catholic and Protestant, Sikhs and Jews. Rich and poor also, the cemetary is home to the Millenium Plot (what would have formerly been known as a “paupers plot.”) This is looked after by the charity “Alone” who maintain the plot and make sure people buried there are buried with dignity, giving them a full funeral, headstone and flowers. Fair play due there. In one of the older paupers plots, up to 25,000 bodies are buried in a relatively tiny area, not far from Parnell’s grave. Many of the dead were victims of a cholera outbreak in the late 19th century. A couple of years after their burial, fresh outbreaks of Cholera were reported in the Drumcondra / Ballybough area. For not far beneath the soil where their bodies lay is a maze of underground streams, all emtying into the Tolka River- the disease had assimilated into the soil and on into the water, making its way back into circulation. Nasty times.

Above is a stone that caught my attention the first time I visited, and again on our visit on Monday, a memorial to the Indian Mutineers of 1920. Theres is an interesting story. Upon hearing of the uprising in their homeland, hundreds of Irish Soldiers fighting in the British army in India turned their guns on their generals. Though close to 400 men took part, the mutiny was quickly  suppressed and eighty-eight of those men were court martialled. Fourteen were sentenced to death and the rest given up to 15 years in jails in Dagshai and Solan. Two died in the mutiny, Pte Sears and Pte Smyth. Thirteen of the men sentenced to die had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, though one man, James Daly was shot dead by firing squad. He was considered the leader of the mutiny at just 21 years old.

Frank Ryan & next to him, the great Eamonn Mac Thomais

The tour eventually took us to the grave of Brendan Behan in the end, and my search was over. Not far from him lies the burial place of Francis Sheehy- Skeffington, brutally murdered by an Anglo-Irish officer of the 3rd battalion Royal Irish Rifles, Captain J.C. Bowen-Colthurst. Another sad story, one of 1.2 million sad stories you might say. You get the sense when walking around here that each grave has a history attached, each person buried here has had trials and tribulations of their own. And while visitors come here to see the burial sites of the famous and influential, there are others here whose personal struggles surely matched the struggles of those marked on their maps.

The new Glasnevin Visitors Centre opens this Friday. There are daily tours of the cemetary, led by Shane MacThomáis, costing €5. A bargain, tours last approx. 2 hours. Without donations and support, Glasnevin would be forced to close its gates as a national monument. Be sure to visit and support it however you can. Check out http://www.glasnevintrust.ie for more details.

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A Trip to the Flicks and a Pick’n’Mix

Posted in Miscellaneous, Reviews, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on April 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

First off, apologies; I’ve been off the beaten  track for a while. Hitting Doolin took a bit of planning, I was in no state to type over that weekend, for obvious reasons, and then I got landed with a “bug” when I got back, keeping me occupied until Thursday. Anyways…

Pre- planning things in this city rarely works out, as evidenced by Thursdays trip to the flicks. Having rounded up a gang of five lads to head see Perrier’s Bounty on Thursday evening, it ended up just the two of us, the two Ciaráns. Ah well. Into McNeills on Capel Street for a quick pint first (the business,) up to Cineworld, a ten euro bag of Pick ‘n’ Mix (I shit you not, my belly was in tatters after) and we settled into Screen 6. Deadly.

The Good Guys

But, the film. I don’t like starting a positive review with a negative statement but, well, I’m going to do it anyways. Go see Perrier’s Bounty if you want to hear the worst attempt at an Irish accent you’re ever likely to hear on the big screen. For while Jim Broadbent  is not out of his depth in Hollywood blockbusters like Harry Potter, he makes a balls of the Dublin accent, slipping between a thick Liberties accent and a Darby O’Gill- esque spuds and pot of gold twang. It’s actually quite funny in itself. But that’s not the worst thing about the film. It really does seem sluggish in parts; I don’t know how to explain it- you just wish the film could be just all the good scenes and would be an ace film at that. For while there are scenes where you’re thinking… hurry the fuck up, there are also scenes that make you crack your shite laughing.

In a nutshell, the story line is this. (To be honest, it’s not far off Dead Man Running, the low-budget crime caper “starring” the king of naughty himself, Danny Dyer;) Michael McCrea (Cillian Murphy,) is a small time geezer who somehow ends up owing a grand to a big time geezer called Darren Perrier (Gleeson.) Under threat of having two bones of his choice broken (fingers don’t count,) he has twenty four hours to come up with the yoyos. Cue drama with his estranged father Jim (Broadbent) arriving on the scene, the girl next door Brenda (Whittaker) breaking up with her boyfriend and threatening to top herself, a proposal from fellow geezer “the Mutt” and well… as these stories inevitably go, it’s a mish mash of lots of stuff happening that inevitably has something got to do with the story come the end. Perrier (Gleeson) is an unscrupulous gangster who rules Dublin’s streets with an iron fist. And he’s not letting Michael away easy, after what happens when two of his goons show up to break Michael’s legs. I won’t say what, but a trip up to the Dublin Mountains for Michael, Brenda and Jim shortly follows. It’s from here to the end that the film hits form, the showdown with Perrier and the culmination of the plot, with the day being saved by the comrades of Achilles and Apollo (two dogs by the way.)

The Bad Guys

There are some laughs in the film, though I’m sure a lot of them will be lost on international audiences- the best humour is colloquial, the insults local, and the analogies… well… a bit over the top to be honest. Some of the dialogue interspersed between scenes is out of place in this film, like it’s trying to be something it’s not  but this didn’t spoil it for me. Well, nothing spoiled the film for me; I quite liked it start to finish.

The best thing about it is the scenes filmed on the streets of Dublin. I spent most of the time trying to think where the scenes were shot; and smiling knowingly when I worked out the routes the characters take are arseways. Nice night-time shots of the quays, O’Connell Street, a beautiful view over the city from the Mountains, and what I think are those flats around the back of St. Patricks Cathedral. It’s always nice to see the city on film.

Anyhow, not much more I can say. If you have a couple of hours to kill, and a tenner burning a hole in your pocket, go see this film. Whilst you might not be blown away, you certainly won’t be disappointed. On to Slatterys for a quick one on the way home and sorted, not a bad evening!

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Need some yelp?

Posted in Reviews, tagged , , , , on March 23, 2010| 1 Comment »

I’ve recently started reviewing pubs, restaurants and shops on the Dublin section of Yelp. I can’t remember how I found the website originally but I’m glad I did now.

Yelp is a “social networking, user review and local search” website. In short, people review things. Imagine a more ambitious version of TripAdvisor.

After only a few reviews, I started getting ‘compliments’ from various people. One person sent me the following message, “Your reviews deserve a “hidden gems” list! Seriously, these are some stellar reviews. Can’t wait to read more!”, someone else sent me this, “I am bookmarking your reviews for my summer Dublin trip! Thanks for the crazy cool insider info!!”.

The cynic in me thought that these compliments were from fake, automated profiles run by Yelp to make new users feel important and persuade them to stick around.

It turns out I was wrong.

I’m slowly finding out that Yelp (especially Dublin) has a really healthy, active, friendly online community.

I’ve only written up 10 reviews but have already had friend requests from 8 people, received 12 different compliment messages and 31 ‘review votes’ (when someone lets you know that they’ve found your review Useful [19], Funny [2], and Cool [10]).

The Dublin users of Yelp have already started organising real life events. The first, a meet & greet with the (volunteer) Yelp Dublin manager, is happening this Friday in Le Cirk. Though I won’t be able to make it this time around, I hear there are plans to organise more regular Yelp Dublin events.

Honest reviews of businesses by real people living and working Dublin can only be a good idea. Why not give Yelp a go?

A section of the Dublin Yelp homepage.

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